Black Cats Are Always In Style

October 25, 2017

2017-10-25

Meet Wendy. She is a 5-month-old kitten who was brought into Lawndale Veterinary Hospital two Wednesdays ago, on October 11, 2017. A Good Samaritan found her on the side of the road on Wendover Avenue. (Do you see where the name came from?)

The Good Samaritan, also a client of Lawndale Veterinary Hospital, noticed the kitten was bleeding from her face and breathing hard, so she rushed her to the clinic. When Wendy arrived, Dr. Jelovich determined that this sweet kitten had been hit by a car. Dr. J worked quickly to give her oxygen, intravenous fluids, and pain medicine while also carefully assessing the extent of her injuries. The most significant findings included bruising of the lungs, two fractured ribs, and some scrapes and swelling on her nose, face, and neck. Dr. J was able to stabilize the kitten with hospitalization, supportive treatments, and pain management. The entire staff took an immediate liking to Wendy and provided the necessary TLC!

The good news is that Wendy is a resilient kitty (and of course she had excellent care from Dr. J and our staff!), so she recovered quickly from her trauma. Her rib fractures are still healing, but you wouldn’t know from watching her that she had ever been through such an ordeal.

The staff has continued to grow very fond of Wendy. She is quite chatty, incredibly affectionate, super playful, she has a motor that is pretty much non-stop (i.e., she purrs a lot), and she loves attention. She has even shown curious interest in our clinic cats, Mr. Peepers and Beaker. We’re not sure yet how she will be around dogs – at the moment she seems to be cautious, but not terrified. As you can also see, Wendy has a black coat. While the Halloween season may bring to mind spooky images of black cats, witches, and other omens, there is nothing spooky at all about Wendy. She’s a survivor with a gentle soul!

There has been a very long-held belief that black cats (and dogs) are adopted less often than other color pets. The ASPCA has put out some information in the recent past that actually debunks this belief. Using the ASPCA’s Comprehensive Animal Risk Database (CARDS), Dr. Emily Weiss from the ASPCA was able to explore the numbers on black cats (and dogs) across a number of community partners. Dr. Weiss reviewed the data in 2013, and then again in 2016, and what she found was consistent and to some, surprising: More black cats and dogs were adopted over any other color! Furthermore, there are more black pets entering shelters than any other color. It is this second point that could help explain why so many perceive that black pets are adopted less frequently. If there are more black pets in the shelter, then it could easily appear that more black pets are “left behind” – when in reality it was because there were more there to begin with.

Coming back to the main topic of our blog – Wendy – perhaps you have guessed by now that Wendy needs a home? In the two weeks we have had her, no one has stepped up to claim her. Wendy does not have a microchip. She seems healthy in spite of her recent trauma, and she tested negative for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). She has already received her rabies and first feline distemper combination vaccines. Wendy seems like she will make a fantastic pet, and our staff hopes to see Wendy find a loving home. And while her black coat makes her “in style” for Halloween, we think black cats are “in style” all year long!

Author: Dr. C. Noureddine, DVM, MS, MS

References:

Weiss, E. Black is still the new white. ASPCA Blog. October 20, 2016 (https://www.aspcapro.org/blog/2016/10/19/black-still-new-white)